Actualités de la campagne référendaire de 1995 au Québec 07 (du 19 octobre au 21 octobre)

In these television archives from Radio-Canada, CBC, TVA and CTV, you will find news bulletins from October 1995 covering the final ten days of the Quebec referendum campaign, as polls tightened dramatically and both sides redoubled their efforts to win over the last undecided voters before October 30th. A central story is the confusion that arose over Lucien Bouchard's statements on sovereignty during his tour of the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. Speaking in Rivière-du-Loup, Bouchard appeared to suggest that sovereignty was an end in itself before recentring his message that evening before 2,000 supporters in Rimouski. The Yes side also had to manage the fallout from Marcel Dutil, president of Canam Manac, who told a business audience of 3,000 that Canada should have shown Quebec the door, comments Parizeau called explosive and that Bouchard seized on as proof that federalist business leaders were turning against their own community. The economic debate continued to dominate. Daniel Johnson released a study by economist Marcel Côté concluding that a monetary union between a sovereign Quebec and Canada was impossible, predicting that a Yes vote would trigger a financial crisis as savers withdrew their deposits and Quebec was forced to adopt its own currency trading at around 63 cents US. Michel Bélanger raised the issue of capital flight, noting that Canadians had increased their foreign currency deposits by at least 12 per cent since the summer. Paul Martin shifted his message, moving away from the million jobs figure deployed earlier in the week and instead arguing that a No vote would associate Quebec with the decentralization already underway across Canada. An Angus Reid poll gave the Yes side 45.4 per cent and the No side 43.6 per cent after distributing undecided voters, putting the Yes ahead for the first time. The Canadian dollar fell nearly three quarters of a cent. The No side was visibly shaken. At a rally in Drummondville, supporters urged their leaders toward a calmer and more positive tone, with some openly hoping for a Jean Charest effect to counter Bouchard's momentum. Robert Bourassa reassured anxious federalist militants, reminding them that pollsters had historically underestimated the No side. Mario Dumont spent the day in Montreal visiting radio stations, the Accueil Bonneau shelter and the Foyer des artistes, reaching undecided voters with a message focused on ending constitutional quarrels and creating jobs. Jacques Parizeau clarified that if Canada refused to negotiate after a Yes vote, the National Assembly could proclaim sovereignty within weeks. Jean Chrétien refused to commit to granting Quebec a veto over constitutional changes, distancing himself from a No side pamphlet signed by Daniel Johnson mailed to all Quebec households. An Angus Reid poll also showed roughly a third of Yes supporters still believed Quebec would remain inside Canada after a Yes vote, frustrating both Chrétien and deputy prime minister Sheila Copps. Filmmaker Pierre Falardeau's warning that voting No would turn Quebec into another Sudbury prompted a public letter from Sudbury mayor Jim Gordon defending his city's French-language services. An unauthorized biography of Jean Chrétien alleged that during the 1972 election in Saint-Maurice, Chrétien had arranged for a friend to mount a deliberately weak campaign against him as his Conservative opponent. 00:00 19 octobre (SRC) 12:54 19 octobre (CBC) 19:09 19 octobre (TVA) 22:18 19 octobre (RDI) 23:17 20 octobre (SRC) 37:37 21 octobre (CBC) 43:31 21 octobre (TVA) 44:12 21 octobre (SRC) 51:00 Pub NON 53:08 Pub OUI